Acetylcholine Regulation of the Hippocampus and Striatum During Learning

133 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005.The present series of experiments evaluated the hypothesis that cholinergic activity regulates multiple memory systems. The hypotheses specifically tested were: (a) cholinergic activity in the hippocampus regulates place learning, (b) cholinergic activity in the striatum regulates response learning and (c) cholinergic activity in one structure regulates competitive interactions with the other. To this end, rats were tested in tasks in which acquisition of either place or response information led to the correct solution. In Chapter 2, rats were treated with intrastriatal glucose (glucose is hypothesized to upregulate cholinergic functioning) injections just prior to learning. In Chapters 3 and 4, acetylcholine release was measured in the hippocampus and striatum just prior to and during learning. The results, in general, support the hypothesis that increases in cholinergic activity in the hippocampus and striatum facilitate acquisition of place and response information, respectively, and that cholinergic activity in one structure can regulate competitive interactions with the other.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD